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Former Officer Enters Plea Deal; Several Serious Charges are Dismissed

Former Revere Police Officer Todd Randall pleaded guilty in Federal Court last week to giving a false statement to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), making a plea deal with the government that could get him as much as 15 months in jail or no time at all.

“[The FBI] did approach me and asked me the names of several individuals,” Randall said. “Some I knew. Some I didn’t know. I lied when I answered questions about who I did know. I didn’t know what the investigation was about, but I was untruthful when I answered the questions about people I knew.”

Randall’s plea came some six months after he was abruptly arrested at his home, and it appeared from statements made by prosecutors that Randall is getting a pass on several other charges.

Federal prosecutor Brian Kelly told the court that the government is not pursuing charges for illegal drugs and for extortion – far more serious charges than that of giving a false statement.

However, prosecutors are advocating for the maximum 15 months in jail – as opposed to what is prescribed in the federal sentencing guidelines, which call for 0-6 months.

In court last Wednesday, September 7, that was a major question put to Kelley by Judge Rya Zobel.

“What is the government giving up here?” she asked after being presented with the plea agreement.

“The government is retaining the right to argue for up to 15 months given the facts, given the background of the defendant and given the charges we decided not to bring forward,” said Kelly. “He is free to argue for zero months. We are giving up the right to pursue additional charges here. There are a variety of charges we could pursue, but we’re not going to. There are charges involving extortion and charges involving drugs. There’s more we could have investigated but chose not to. We are asking for greater punishment.”

Many wondered if the FBI was pursuing additional charges against additional individuals, and perhaps information passed on by Randall allowed him to take a pass on the more serious charges.

None of that could be substantiated, and those sorts of deals are not public and not discussed in the court. Rather, if those things are done, that is part of the quid pro quo that goes on behind closed doors when hammering out such deals.

At this point, there is nothing to lead one to believe that the case goes any further than Randall and his false statement plea.

Kelly did indicate that the FBI moved in on the Revere Police Department in January 2010, investigating allegations of police officers that were dealing drugs and that were involved in other types of corruption.

“In January 2010 the FBI investigated several and various corruption allegations in the Revere Police Department, mostly centered on the defendant, who was a Revere Police Officer at the time.”

Kelly said the FBI developed witnesses and then set up a cooperating witness’s apartment with video, audio and photo surveillance.

The witness arranged for Randall to come to the apartment to discuss fixing a court case for the witness’s friend. The witness gave Randall $200 cash to fix the case, and Randall – in police uniform and driving a police cruiser – accepted the cash.

While there, Randall was also captured on surveillance asking the witness if he had a way to get large quantities of Percocet pills. On surveillance, Randall indicated that he used to be able to get “wheelbarrows full” of Percocets, but his source had dried up.

The witness indicated he didn’t know how to get any pills.

More than a year later, the FBI approached Randall about what had transpired.

He denied any knowledge of the situation repeatedly, until agents showed him photographs and video of the undercover transaction.

“He denied all of this on approach by the FBI,” said Kelly. “He repeatedly lied to them on matters material to the investigation. He said to investigators, ‘If you have a photo, I’d like to see it.’ At that point, we did provide him with those photos and charged him.”

Kelly said that was the long and short of the case, and given the extraneous circumstances, he hoped that the absolute maximum sentence of 15 months would be imposed.

Randall did not admit to any of the circumstances detailed in court, but only to the fact that he lied to the FBI.